Garden Share Collective : August 2015

on August 2, 2015

So very many caterpillars! Welcome to my new garden, small it is but man is it productive. We have lucked out with two raised beds the perfect size to feed three people plus the plants I brought from the farm. Here we are again with another round-up of the Garden Share Collective which is a group of bloggers sharing their veggie patches each month.

The Byron Bay hinterland is moist. I mean moist in the sense that it seems to rain a lot more than it did in Queensland. The move three hours south has made me realise that I lived in a special micro-climate on my hill in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The soil here is sandy loam perfect for growing and great for digging. I already have fallen in love with my new life and garden.

Below are a couple of snaps of the two veggie beds when we first moved in. We had some healthy looking cabbages, tomatoes that were sprawled out everywhere, so much silverbeet and for some reason broad beans and artichoke? Um, why? I have taken the liberty of pulling out the broad beans and plan to replace them with a more productive vegetable like zucchini and lettuces. The artichoke must go. Honestly for a backyard garden it is taking up far too much space. I am not sure how long it take for them to produce but they had better hurry up.

The one thing that I am super excited about in my veggie garden is the cauliflower. I have always wanted to grow it and it was never cold enough at the farm in Qld so here I am a proud owner of possibly 3 healthy look cauli’s. I can’t wait to eat them. One of my favourite veggies and I haven’t eaten it in so long.

Garden Bed No.2

Garden Bed No.1

Herbs arrived safely

After four weeks of on and off again rain the plants seemed to have gone nuts. The artichoke is huge and I am hoping that something productive comes out of it real soon. I have picked plenty of cabbages and weeded and pulled out things that are just not needed in the garden. Making way for new veggies. I have decided I will transplant my herbs into the soil as the weather warms up and my tomatoes from Queensland are not looking so happy but I am going to replant them out too in hopes to see them come back to life. Otherwise plenty of seeds are getting planted this month.

Bed No.1

Bed No.2

Silverbeet in Bed No.1

Herbs are looking healthy

PLANTING: Kale seedlings went in this month and next month we will start some seeds for summer.

HARVESTING: Cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, loads of herbs, butter beans and eggplants. We also have lucked out with very healthy looking silverbeet to eat.

TO DO: I have taken some of the plants out already and plan to continue to do so, I want a productive space as opposed to a display garden. These will be replaced with seeds for summer, things like, beans, zucchini’s, eggplants, Asian greens, more lettuce, a cucumber and who knows I might even let a pumpkin go wild if Roy let’s me. I will need to do plenty of mulching too.

For those who check in each month we are migrating to the last Monday of the month instead of the first. Which means the next link up will be on the 31st August.

22 Comments

Hey Lizzie … oh I would be crying if I had caterpillars like that! How dare they … no, it’s all slugs for me at this time of year. That cauli looks very special I’m sure it will be particularly yummy! See you end of August 😀

you need some chickens for those caterpillars. they would love to peck at the grubs (and the leaves!).
it’s amazing how a change in climate and soil and so on can open up new possibilities. cauliflowers are yum!

I really can’t wait to eat that cauliflower. E, I am dreaming of having chooks again, I can’t believe how expensive eggs are. Fingers crossed we can have them again soon, just not while we are renting.

So good to see you’ve hit the ground running with your garden! One good thing about frosty cold weather here in winter is no caterpillars – they are destructive little buggers aren’t they. Agree with E – you need some chookies!

I am so pleased to hear that you are settling well Lizzie. I am certain you will have the garden ship shape in no time. It sounds like you have a very clear plan. Pull out the artichoke at that size it won’t produce much anyway for the space it is taking.

great to read you feel at home in your garden! I don’t grow cauli’s every year but I remember how you can be watching them and just watch the leaves get bigger then as if almost overnight the next time you check there is a cauli in the leaves, it is a magical experience.

I had a mammoth artichoke too, until I got home from work yesterday. It’s been duck up and toppled over. I think some of the chooks must have done it, but they were back in their yard when I arrived home so I can’t identify the culprits. Your new garden looks very productive already. I’m looking forward to seeing it develop.

As usual your garden looks fantastic – hard to believe you’ve just moved there! I’ve just put broad beans and I was so pleased with them- but I have no idea how productive they might be. My planting land cress around my brassicas has totally solved my caterpillar problem – either that or it just got unseasonably cold in Sydney and they all died. Enjoy those cabbages!

The bugs and critters really don’t like the cold they usually die off after a frost, so the cool change that came through a few weeks back most likely scared them off. I have grown broadbeans before and failed so I was not going to tempt fate plus I kept the artichoke.